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Cool and Crazy
First Run Features


9.5

based on 10 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
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Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

A documentary about the lives and loves of the male voice choir in the small fishing village of Berlevag, Norway.

GENRE(S):	Musical
DIRECTED BY:	Knut Erik Jensen
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 23, 2002 Video: April 23, 2002 Theatrical: October 19, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Norway / Sweden
LANGUAGE(S):	Norwegian (with English subtitles)

Original title "Heftig og begeistret"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's so thoroughly engaging, so beautifully made, strikingly shot and chock-full of humor and humanity, I can't imagine any intelligent audience not falling in love with it - if only they take the leap of faith to see it.

100

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Not to be missed.

The New York Times Dave Kehr

Consistently offbeat and entertaining; at such moments, it is also quite moving.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Jensen's use of the conventions of documentary making -- and his undermining of them in ways both bold and subtle -- seems too canny and consistent for the form. Yet the harder I try to decide whether this is a documentary or a parody, the more I wonder why it matters.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Ranging in age from 30 to 96, the Berlevag men clearly enjoy being on camera and are unusually candid about their various pasts as Casanovas and hashish addicts.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Unusual and utterly disarming documentary.

Boston Globe Leighton Klein

Jensen's charming film, is perhaps one of the first in which the actors are credited not by the size of their salaries and egos, but by their vocal ranges.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Every time things start to get dull, you're brought up short by another moment of surprising beauty.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Berlevag's 1300 inhabitants are by nature hardy and uncomplaining, but Knut Erik Jensen's unhurried documentary reveals that there's more to them than mere stoicism.

Village Voice Ed Park

If music be the food of love, Cool & Crazy could stand a few more hits from the spice rack.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

alma m gave it a10:
This film was so true to life, and hauntingly beautiful. I am only sorry I saw it on a TV screen rather than the cinema.

Yoon C. gave it a 7:
Reasonably interesting documentary about uninteresting subject matter.

Karen C. gave it a 10:
I really enjoyed seeing this movie. I would like a copy to send my aunts in Minnesota.

Bob H. gave it a 10:
If an expedition to Mars is ever marooned there, I hope this movie is included in their emergency supplies.

B. Simpson gave it a 10:
One of the most beautiful and humanistic documentaries I have ever seen. There was a hushed lull over the entire audience as the film ended and we made our way out into the street, a huge sign that once we stepped outside we'd be looking at passers-by in a far more intimate way than we did when we walked into the cinema. BRAVO! Till lyke!

Gunn Angelskår gave it a 10:
This film is outstanding, the men are real, its no fake like "reality-tv", culture is living in the districts. Thes choirmembers are just like the other people living in this community, and other like it along the coast.

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Cool and Crazy First Run Features

Cool and Crazy
First Run Features